Saturday, July 13, 2019

BERTRAM MILLS #8


Posted by Chic Silber at 7/13/2019 11:47:00 PM

2 comments:

Bob Cline said...

That is quite an unusual arena. It looks like it's about 15 feet tall or more. the double ring at the top with the security mesh is something I have never seen before. What a terrific design.

14 July, 2019 07:19
Roger Smith said...

I loathe the net cage. It is not an arena. When an animal charges at anything outside, the net can sag outward and the animal can nail anyone standing near, and engage fang and claw. To name one such victim, we have Vivvienne Scott. Further, as even Charly Baumann admitted, in times of excitement the animals' claws can become ensnared in the mesh, and, as he said, 'You have to hurt the animal to get it loose." Even so, knowing better, he acquiesced to its use.

In Madison Square Garden, Christiane and Erhardt Samel's Polar bear, stood on his hind legs, and used all his 1000+ pounds of strength to raunch down on the net cage's top rim. Erhardt couldn't get him down, and the bear's attentions remained on bouncing the top, making the attached ring curb, forty feet away, raise off the floor, with six animals seated at this perimeter. The black leopard turned to see the opening, and just before he or his co-stars could dash out into the audience, a dozen of us dove onto the ring curb to force it back down. We did, but this put our hands, arms, and faces directly against the net with animals sitting against it. This is when I condemn the net cage aa among the most ill-conceived pieces of circus equipment put to use. I know it was considered a labor-saving answer to the prop boys' prayers, who has used it, and how long it's been around, and nothing yet justifies the un-thinking insistence of those who ignore the threat.

14 July, 2019 21:04

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